It's Been Awhile
by DarthZ
Summary: It's been awhile since Maddie had seen Jack. He hadn't changed at all. When Maddie's ship and crew go missing, she's going to need the help of the Black Pearl to find them. But, with Jack's head out of the game, who knows how that will work.


**A/N: I wrote this for my friend after she read my Batman stories (check those out, too. I think they're pretty good) and she wanted to write one about her. She loves Pirates of the Carribean, so I had to put her in this world. And how can you write Jack Sparrow, ahem, _Captain _Jack Sparrow, without making him drunk. Those are the best parts. How you like it. :)**

She felt alive on the ocean. She was above, faster, better than everyone.

"Captain! We're coming to port!" Maddie was brought back to reality by her first mate, Nik.

"Alright. Bring us in." She was looking forward to this. The _Black Pearl_ was already there, so Maddie knew Jack would be waiting at the Tavern. Maddie had grown up alongside Jack, and even though he was several years older than her, they had still had some good times. Remembering when she was nine, Maddie wished for the sword fights they had almost every day. Her mother had said they had sparred so regularly, you could set a clock by it.

But now mother was dead and she and Jack went their own ways on the sea, as captains of their crews.

Maddie stopped suddenly when she saw they had almost walked past her meeting place. Nik, ever faithful, almost ran into her.

"We're here."

The Tavern was a rundown old place. She and Jack had been meeting there since they were ten, after Maddie's mother had died, and they still met there once a year. The two of them never saw each other except for that day, so they both tried very hard not to miss it. Although, Jack had missed it last year. He had been busy reclaiming his ship and fighting his former fist mate.

"Maddie, are you just going to stand there, or are you going to come inside and have a drink?" A voice that could only be described as Captain Jack Sparrow's was talking to her.

"Jack! It's been awhile. I saw you got your ship back. You gonna explain how?" Maddie loved hearing his stories. Her life wasn't boring, but everything possible seemed to happen to him.

"I would love to, darling. But first, I think we should have a few drinks. And you need to introduce your new friend. He wasn't here last time we met." Jack already seemed drunk, even though Maddie knew he wasn't. He was always like that- swaying, his words slurring together.

"This is my first mate, Nik. He saved my life." Nik had needed something to do with his life, so Maddie had offered the position to him. He didn't know much about sailing, but he was a fast learner.

"Well, I do hope you are taking good care of Maddie. If I hear otherwise, you shall be very sorry, indeed." Jack was almost threatening Nik.

"He's taking very good care of me, Jack, don't worry. If he wasn't, he wouldn't be here. The rest of my crew would probably have killed him." Maddie said. He was taking care of her. He was her tall, blond and handsome first mate and fiancé. Of course he was taking care of her. Jack didn't need to know about the fiancé part yet, though. He would flip out and probably do something stupid that would get him hanged or killed some other way.

"That's wonderful, darling. Anything else I need know about him?" Jack asked.

"Nope. Nothing at all. Nothing that wouldn't get you into some kind of trouble." Maddie replied. She didn't want him to get caught again. She had a hard enough time breaking him out of jail four years ago. It would be dang near impossible to break him out of the same jail now. They had upped the security since the last time she had been there.

"I know you're hiding something, Maddie. I'll find out eventually." Jack said with a sly look. Maddie knew he would find out. She had also known he would know she was hiding something. He always knew.

"Ok. Good luck with that. I'll be busy trying to figure out your secrets." Maddie returned the favor.

"Actually, you don't have to try. I brought them with me." Jack was talking in riddles now. Brought _them_ with him? His secret was about people? Uh oh.

Two people walked outside. They still hadn't gone inside yet. The two people seemed like a couple. The guy was rather cute. _No, you are already engaged. You can't go back to having a different guy every other day. _

"This is Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann. They helped me reclaim my beloved _Black Pearl_. They are now part of my crew." Jack introduced his….secrets.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Maddie. Jack, how are they secrets? I don't get that part." Maddie was kind of confused.

"Elizabeth here is the governor's daughter and Will is a blacksmith. They have been, literally, dragged into the whole pirate thing." Jack explained. Now that she knew, Maddie thought that was a pretty good secret. Not as big as hers, but a good one.

"That is a pretty good secret. Now, how about we go get that drink?" Maddie was interested in finding out how Jack's life was going. After all, she hadn't seen him for two years.

"Only after you tell me this secret you have. It seems like a big one." Jack was in his annoying mood today. _Great._ This was now going to be difficult, then.

"Hahaha, you actually got attacked by cannibals? You are so smart!" Maddie had perfected the art of looking drunk. Bad things can happen when you're drunk. _Oh, my gosh. He needs to stop being such an idiotic drunk person. He's gonna get himself killed. _Maddie had been around drunken people so often she just knew how they acted. It was natural for her to act drunk when she was in a bar. She never got drunk, though.

"So, I said to him, I said, are you pulling on my leg? You aren't supposed eat the horse dung!" Jack was totally drunk. Maddie thought it was so obvious. He was so drunk; eventually he would start singing and then pass out. Maddie was pretty sure that Elizabeth was drunk, but she couldn't be sure. _Maybe she's perfected the art of looking drunk, too._

"Jack, you need to take it easy on the drinks next time." Elizabeth said. Nope, not drunk.

"Of course, my dear. But, next time. This time, I think I've already broken that promise, though. I do hope you don't mind." Jack said. His words were slurring together more than normal. Definitely drunk.

"Don't do anything stupid, Jack. I don't want to have to break you out of jail again. It was hard enough the first time." Maddie said, but Jack was already out.

"And there he goes. Out again." Maddie said, exasperated.

"He always does that. I've seen it too many times to count." Elizabeth said. Oh, yes. Maddie had seen it waaayyyy too many times. Actually, it happened every time they got together. They would talk, Jack would drink, Maddie would pretend to drink, Jack would get drunk and do something stupid, and Maddie would have to break him out of jail. Rinse and repeat.

"Captain! We have a little problem." Nik came running through the door, yelling for me. He had gone back to the ship to make sure everything was ok. Apparently, it wasn't.

"Is this a little problem, or a little problem in your world? Cause those are two way different size problems." Maddie said. Nik's idea of a little problem was a hole in the side of the ship caused by a canon falling through the deck.

"Uh, actually, it's a big problem in my world. The ship is gone."

**A/N: That would be a big problem in anyone's book. Hope you like it. Read and review and make me happy? Please?**


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